Blacks fret free-for-all for Jesse Jackson Jr. seat

Black leaders are growing increasingly worried that a white candidate might seize the seat of former Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. in the upcoming Illinois special election.

With a host of black candidates announcing their intention to seek the seat, the concern is that they could split the African-American vote and provide a plurality to a white contender. The worries escalated this week after former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, a white Democrat and veteran of suburban Chicago politics, threw her hat into the ring.

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Losing Jackson’s seat would be a blow to the black establishment. Chicago, long a center of black cultural and political power — it’s the home of the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama, and the first 20th-century black member of Congress, Oscar De Priest — would see its delegation in the Congressional Black Caucus diminish from three seats to two. And there’s Jackson’s background as the son of iconic civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Jackson’s district, which first elected him in 1995, contains a small majority of black voters.

“There’s a great deal of concern that Debbie Halvorson would win because the black vote would be split 18 ways,” said Delmarie Cobb, a longtime Democratic political consultant in Chicago who formerly worked for Jackson Jr.

“The battle we have is that we can’t afford to lose a black voice in Congress,” she added. “It would be a terrible loss in many ways.”

Jackson Jr., who has been undergoing treatment for mental health issues, announced his resignation last week. Gov. Pat Quinn has set the primary election for Feb. 26, and a general election is expected on April 9.

Halvorson, black leaders say, presents a particular threat. The former congresswoman, who served two years in the House and spent 15 years in local and state office, fell short in her primary bid early this year against Jackson, but she won majorities of the vote in Will and Kankakee counties — suburban, mostly white areas that comprise two of the district’s three counties.

Some black officials have met Halvorson’s entry into the race with outright hostility. Kwame Raoul, a Democratic state senator who has been vocal about his concern that a white candidate could win the seat, said the former congresswoman is exploiting an opportunity she saw in the emerging crowded field of black candidates.

Readers' Comments (26)

Such a racist article. If you swap "white" for "black" and visa-versa imagine the hysteria.' White leaders concerned about a black candidate winning the seat.' If people could think about individual liberty and natural rights instead of us versus them, the country would be better off.

And who are the real racists? Really, but does it matter? The moron black voters voted in Jr under investgation for money laundering, you may as well run Marion Berry, he was quite the winner. Is OJ out of jail yet?

Halvorson what a racist witch to want to run for an open seat in Congress. Let the voters deciede if they want another Lil Jessee or maybe someone that will really represent them and work for them. But seeing as it's Chicago chances of her winning I would rate as slim to none with my money on none. I'm not sure that it's a requirement in Chicago for a dem canidate for any office to even fog a mirrow held under their nose.

All they're going to do is to replace one criminal racebaiting poverty pimp with another one. after all,it IS Chicago.Maybe Beck will put Jesse where he put Obama tonight. Laughed my rear end off. !!! Check it out at "The Blaze"